Introduction Hot off their collaboration on the slowly-published and company-botched Image / Maximum / Awesome series, Supreme, Alan Moore, Chris Sprouse, and Al Gordon launched Tom Strong as the flagship title of America's Best Comics, the first of four regular series that would premere over four months. Comparisons to Supreme generally favored Supreme, which was almost certainly more fun, but ignored the fact that Tom Strong was doing something quite different: while retaining the reconstructionist simplicity of Supreme, Tom Strong was hardly a reconfiguration of the Superman mythos. Instead, Tom Strong was nothing short of a reconfiguration of American comics, one that imagined that they had never become severed, at least in memory, from the pulp heroes of the 1930s. Tom Strong attempted to synthesize Tarzan with Superman, to use those two heroes as representative of their strains in American popular culture. Year One April 1999 - April 2000 Tom Strong #1-7 Year Two April 2000 - April 2001 Tom Strong #8-12 short story and pin-up in America's Best Comics Special Year Three April 2001 - April 2002 Tom Strong #13-16 Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #1-2 Year Four April 2002 - April 2003 Tom Strong #17-20 Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #3-6 Year Five April 2003 - April 2004 Tom Strong #21-??? Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #7-??? The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong Terra Obscura #1-6 If all of this sounds good, it was. Tom Strong started, well, strong. The first seven issues were good fun and featured a great deal of enjoyable elements. But it took a full year for them to see publication. The title then began printing three stories per issue, rather than the sustained 24-or-more-page tales; generally speaking, these were less enjoyable. Whereas other artists provided flashback and flash-forward tales within #4-7, for #8-10, other artists would illustrate one tale out of three. Tom Strong also appeared in America's Best Comics Special at this time in a story written by Steve Moore, the first time anyone else had written Tom Strong. Issues #11-12 told a single sustained story with art entirely by Sprouse and Gordon, though the effect was lessened by the long gap before publication of #12. The second year of publication closed with only five new issues published (plus the short story in America's Best Comics Special), and those issues had not been as enjoyable as those of the first year. The first half of the third year saw only two issues with only the equivalent of one drawn by Sprouse and Gordon. The second half of the third year would see only two more issues, #15 and #16. With #15, Karl Story replaced Al Gordon as permanent inker of the title. #16 began a trilogy entirely drawn by Sprouse and Story, though the delays between issues would again lessen the effect of receiving such a sustained story. While the artistic team of Tom Strong began illustrating complete issues, no matter how long they took to complete, a spin-off would help to keep Tom Strong material on the new comics racks. As the second half of the third year commenced, the anthology Tom Strong's Terrific Tales was launched. While readers appreciated getting more material, there seemed little reason to have two titles published sporadically rather than folding the spin-off's contents into the original title, which itself often enough featured multiple stories. The formula for the anthology would be a Tom Strong story by Alan Moore, often using strained perspectives and / or taking place in another time, plus a "Young Tom Strong" story written by Steve Moore with Alan Weiss art, and a new feature called "Jonni Future" written by Steve Moore with fantastic art by Arthur Adams. Beyond expanding the Tom Strong franchise with regular writing by another writer, Terrific Tales expanded the Tom Stong universe through the Jonni Future strip, focused on the daughter of a minor character from an earlier story. Jonni Future, with its sly sexploitation, quickly began to steal the show, but the title as a whole seemed less satisfactory than the main title -- at times even childish, ironic given that the title's promotional material suggested that it would feature slightly darker and more mature stories. The third year concluded in April 2002 with four Tom Strong issues and the first two issues of Tom Strong's Terrific Tales seeing print. Tom Strong's fourth year saw another four issues of Tom Strong plus four of Terrific Tales. DC Comics began attempting to get the main title back on a more regular schedule, making sure issues were ready to go before being solicited. After the two concluding issues of the trilogy running then in Tom Strong, illustrated entirely by Sprouse and Story, issue #19 was an anthology issue featuring different artists. Issue #20, published just at the end of the fourth year, would begin a trilogy focusing on the alternative universe Tom Stone and penciled by Jerry Ordway instead of Sprouse. The four issues of Terrific Tales published in the fourth year were noteworthy for the ousting for a single issue (#5) of the celebrated Jonni Future strip, replaced by a story written by Leah Moore, Alan Moore's daughter. Leah Moore would write one of the three stories in Tom Strong #19, just a few months later. Tom Strong's fifth year began with the publication of The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong, a 64-page special written by Peter Hogan (with Alan Moore's assistance) and illustrated by many prominent artists, including Sprouse and Story. As Tom Strong and Terrific Tales continued occasional publication, a mini-series was launched, focusing on Terra Obscura, the home of Tom Strange seen in Tom Strong #11-12. Written by Peter Hogan and coplotted with Alan Moore, the six-issue Terra Obscura saw regular publication; solely by itself, this mini-series featuring Tom Strange and a large cast of characters contained more material than Tom Strong's second year and almost as much as his third -- the mini-series combined with the special, ignoring the two main titles, amounted by themselves to more material than any entire year of Tom Strong's history, however Tom Strong himself was marginalized in this material.

IMAGE	TITLE	DESCRIPTION	STATUS
1. The First Three Introductory Stories
Tom Strong #1-18, two thirds of #19, all of #20-22; half of Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #1, a third of Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #2-8: Alan Moore script
Tom Strong #1-3, about two-thirds of 4-10, all of 11-12, one-fourth of 13, two-thirds of 14, all of 15-18, one-third of 19, all of 23-24; 9 pages of The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong: Chris Sprouse pencils
Tom Strong #1-3, about two-thirds of 4-10, all of 11-12, one-fourth of 13, two-thirds of 14: Al Gordon inks
	Tom Strong #1	32 pages; also features a 2-page text "history" of Tom Strong entitled "Born With The Century: Tom Strong and his City"; Alex Ross cover; cover-dated June 1999	1
	Tom Strong #1 [alternate cover]	Chris Sprouse & Al Gordon cover	0
	Tom Strong #2	Chris Sprouse & Angus McKie cover; cover-dated July 1999	1
	Tom Strong #3	Cully Hamner helped Sprouse on the pencils; Chris Sprouse & Al Gordon cover; cover-dated August 1999	1
2. The Classic Four-Issue Epic
Tom Strong #4; Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #1, 5-6; The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong: Arthur Adams cover
	Tom Strong #4	inset story with Arthur Adams pencils and Al Gordon inks; continues into the next issue; cover-dated October 1999	1
	Tom Strong #5	inset story with Jerry Ordway pencils and Al Gordon inks; continues into the next issue; Jerry Ordway cover; cover-dated December 1999	1
	Tom Strong #6	inset story with Dave Gibbons art (entirely); continues into the next issue; Dave Gibbons cover; cover-dated February 2000	1
	Tom Strong #7	inset story with Gary Frank pencils and Cam Smith inks; ends with the beginning of New Year's Day, 2000; Gary Frank & Cam Smith cover; cover-dated March 2000	1
Larger Version Available	Tom Strong: Book One	collects Tom Strong #1-7 [REVIEW AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK]	0
Larger Version Available	Tom Strong: Book One [hardcover edition]	published months prior to the softcover	0
3. Ten Short Stories
	Tom Strong #8	contains three short stories, one with Alan Weiss art; Alan Weiss cover; cover-dated July 2000	1
	Tom Strong #9	contains three short stories, one with Paul Chadwick art; Paul Chadwick cover; cover-dated September 2000; published on Wednesday, 19 July 2000	1
	Tom Strong #10	contains three short stories, one with Gary Gianni art, plus a phony advertisement for America's Best Comics; Gary Gianni cover; cover-dated November 2000; published in late September 2000	1
The 9-page Tom Strong short story (written by Steve Moore, the first instance of anyone else writing Tom Strong, with art by Humberto Ramos & John Totleben) from America's Best Comics Special, published on 29 December 2000 and also containing a nice Tom Strong pin-up by John Cassaday, occurs here
4. Return to Terra Obscura
	Tom Strong #11	continues into the next issue; Chris Sprouse & Al Gordon cover; cover-dated January 2001; published on Wednesday, 20 December 2000 (the same day Promethea #12 was published)	1
	Tom Strong #12	Chris Sprouse & Al Gordon cover; cover-dated June 2001; published on Wednesday, 18 April 2001 (the same day Tomorrow Stories #10 was published)	1
5. A New Batch of Short Stories
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Tom Strong #13	contains four connected short stories, the second by Russ Heath, the third by Kyle Baker, and the fourth by Pepe Poplaski; Chris Sprouse & Al Gordon cover; cover-dated July 2001; published on Wednesday, 16 May 2001	1
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Tom Strong #14	features three stories, one with Hilary Barta art; cover-dated October 2001; published on Wednesday, 8 August 2001	1
"The Dark Inside," the 12-page Tom Strong short story (written by Alan Moore with art by Paul Rivoche), taking place in 1950, from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #1, published on 14 November 2001, occurs or was published here
"Tesla Time," the 4-page Tesla Strong short story (written by Alan Moore with art by Jaime Hernandez) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #1, published on 14 November 2001, occurs here
Tom Strong #15-18, one-third of 19, all of 20, all of 23-24; 15 pages of The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong; Terra Obscura #1-6: Karl Story inks
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Tom Strong #15	the lava man returns, kidnapping Tesla, then comes to live with the Strongs; cover-dated March 2002; published on Friday, 4 January 2002	1
"Live Culture," the 8-page Tom Strong short story (written by Alan Moore with art by Paul Rivoche), featuring Svetlana X and taking place in 2001, from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #2, published on 30 January 2002, occurs here
6. The Bug Invasion Trilogy
	Tom Strong #16	published on Wednesday, 27 February 2002	1
	Tom Strong #17	features Svetlana X, Tom Strong's Russian counterpart, from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #2; this issue's story is continued from #16 and continued into #18; published on Wednesday, 3 July 2002	1
	Tom Strong #18	"The Last Roundup"; the Strong team beats the aliens and returns to Earth; continued from #17; cover-dated December 2002	1
7. Nine More Shorts
"The Rule of Robo-Saveen!", the 8-page Tom Strong short story (written by Alan Moore with art by Jerry Ordway) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #3, published on 1 May 2002, occurs or was published here
"Leap of Faith," the 8-page Tom Strong short story (written by Alan Moore with art by Paul Rivoche) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #4, occurs or was published here
"Collect the Set!", the 8-page Tom Strong short story (written by Alan Moore with art by Jason Pearson) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #5, published on 13 November 2002, occurs or was published here
"King Solomon Pines," the 8-page Solomon and Tesla Strong short story (written by Leah Moore with art by Sergio Aragones) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #5, published on 13 November 2002, occurs or was published here
"Goloka: The Heroic Dose," the 8-page Tom Strong short story (written by Alan Moore with art by Jerry Ordway), taking place in 1927, from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #6, published on 12 February 2003, occurs or was published here
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Tom Strong #19	contains "Electric Ladyland!" (an 8-page story occurring in 1973, written by Alan Moore with Howard Chaykin art), "Bad to the Bone" (an 8-page story of Paul Saveen's death in 1992, written by Leah Moore with Shawn McManus pencils and Steve Mitchell inks, with an ending very reminiscent of From Dusk Till Dawn's), and "The Hero-Hoard of Horatio Hogg!" (an 8-page story of a world inside a technological comic book, written by Alan Moore with Chris Sprouse pencils and Karl Story inks); cover-dated April 2003; published on Wednesday, 19 February 2003	1
"Blanket Shanty," the 8-page short story (written by Alan Moore with art by Shawn McManus) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #7, cover-dated July 2003, occurs or was published here
8. The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong
	The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong	Tesla Strong pursues Solomon, lost in another dimension; Peter Hogan script, with plot assistance from Alan Moore; art by Chris Sprouse & Karl Story (pages 1-5, 43, 62-64), Michael Golden (pages 6-11, featuring Tekla Strong), Adam Hughes & Karl Story (pages 12-17, featuring a mermaid Strong family), Phil Noto (pages 18-20, featuring Warren Strong and the cartoon animal Strong family), Arthur Adams (pages 21-22, featuring Solomon and his captured counterparts), Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (pages 23-29, featuring a Tesla with a secret identity), Frank Cho (pages 30-33, featuring Tes of the Tigers), J. Scott Campbell (pages 34-35, featuring a nudist Strong family), Claudio Castellini (pages 36-40, featuring the interdemensional Azteck serpent from Tom Strong #3), and Jason Pearson (pages 41-42, 44-61; featuring an inversed world in which the Strongs are evil while Peter Saveen and the Nazi Weiss are good); 64 pages; cover-dated July 2003	1
	The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong [alternate cover]	Bruce Timm cover	0
9. How Tom Stone Got Started
Tom Strong #20-22: Jerry Ordway pencils and inks (#22 has additional inks by Hope & Friend)
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Tom Strong #20	the cover pays homage to Alex Ross's for #1; cover-dated June 2003	1
	Tom Strong #21	covers Tom Stone's world from 1936-1989, including the reformation of Tom's villains, the inclusion of the superteam America's Best (consisting of Promethea, Jonny Future, Cobweb, and Splash Brannigan), and the saving of Terra Obscura; unknown inks; cover-dated October 2003; published on Wednesday, 20 August 2003	1
	Tom Strong #22	Tom Stone's universe is destroyed; cover-dated December 2003; published on Wednesday, 8 October 2003	1
10. Terra Obscura
Terra Obscura #1-6: Peter Hogan script from a plot by Hogan and Alan Moore; Yanick Paquette pencils
	Terra Obscura #1	the Grim Reaper attacks the Terror, who controls a city absolutely; cover-dated August 2003	1
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Terra Obscura #2	Grant Halford, the Magnet, investigates the death of Lance Lewis, who came from the 22nd Century to become a science hero, beginning in the 1940s	1
	Terra Obscura #3	published on Wednesday, 27 August 2003	1
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Terra Obscura #4	the heroes get Tom Strange to join the group; published on Wednesday, 24 September 2003	1
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Terra Obscura #5	Dr. X and his mansion depart for dimension X; Mystico revealed to be behind the crisis; cover-dated December 2003; published on Wednesday, 29 October 2003	1
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Terra Obscura #6	32 pages; everyone battles and defeats Mystico; Diana leaves Tim, moving in with Carol in New Lancaster; cover-dated February 2004	1
11. More Tom
"G-G-Ghosts at the Gear Stick!," the 8-page short story (written by Alan Moore with art by Jason Pearson) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #8, cover-dated December 2003, occurs or was published here
Tom Strong #23-24: Peter Hogan script
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Tom Strong #23	cover-dated January 2003; published on Wednesday, 5 November 2003	1
	Tom Strong #24	cover-dated March 2003	1
	Tom Strong #25	no data entered	0
YOUNG TOM STRONG
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #1	32 pages; features "The Dark Inside" (a 12-page story that takes place in 1950, written by Alan Moore, with art by Paul Rivoche, both of whom did mediocre jobs), "Tesla Time" (a 4-page story that takes place in the present, written by Alan Moore, with art by Jaime Hernandez, and disturbingly featuring a slutty Tesla Strong casually getting fucked by a large alien), "The Fiend of the Forgotten Shore" (an 8-page Young Tom Strong story that takes place when he was 9, with Steve Moore script and disappointing Alan Weiss art, that is the most interesting feature in the issue simply because it tells the origin of Attabar Teru with a slave ship), and "The Halfway House" (an 8-page Jonni Future story, which features Earth four billion years in the future, written by Steve Moore and illustrated by Arthur Adams, whose art is the best in the issue); a remarkably disappointing first issue, especially stupid because it apparently never occured to the decision-makers that launching a spin-off was not a good idea when the original book is published so rarely; cover-dated January 2002; published on Wednesday, 14 November 2001	1
	Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #2	features "Live Culture" (an 8-page story that occurs in 2001, written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Paul Rivoche, and featuring Svetlana X, Tom Strong's Russian counterpart, as well as an image of a still-thriving Russia), "Moth-Women of the Myriad Moons" (an 8-page Jonni Future story, featuring a rushed script with a number of nice touches by writer Steve Moore and very nice art by Arthur Adams), and "Young Tom Strong and the Thunderbirds of Attabar Terru" (an 8-page story that occurs in 1910, scripted by Steve Moore and illustrated by Alan Weiss); cover-dated March 2002; published on Wednesday, 30 January 2002	1
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #3	features "The Rule of Robo-Saveen!" (an 8-page story written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Jerry Ordway), "The Seraglio of the Stars" (a wonderful 8-page Jonni Future story, featuring an inter-species harem, written by Steve Moore and illustrated by Arthur Adams), and "Young Tom Strong and the View Beyond the Veil" (an 8-page story, scripted by Steve Moore and illustrated by Alan Weiss); published on Wednesday, 1 May 2002	1
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #4	features "Leap of Faith" (a rather good 8-page story written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Paul Rivoche), "The Witch of the World's End!" (a 9-page Jonni future story, written by Steve Moore and illustrated by Arthur Adams), and "Young Tom Strong and the Fairy of Foam" (an 8-page story, scripted by Steve Moore with art by Alan Weiss); examine the large version of the cover at left and ask yourself "Is that hairpie?"; cover-dated November 2002 [READ MATT MARTIN'S REVIEW]	1
without titles and insignia Larger Version Available	Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #5	features "Collect the Set!" (an 8-page story told through sequential playing cards, scripted by Alan Moore and illustrated by Jason Pearson), "King Solomon Pines" (a clever 8-page story of King Solomon's daily life, including his pining for Tesla Strong [for whom he wants to play Fay Wray], written by Leah Moore, Alan Moore's daughter, and illustrated by Sergio Aragones), and "Young Tom Strong and the Mysteries of Chukulteh" (an 8-page story, scripted by Steve Moore with art by Alan Weiss); cover-dated January 2003; published on Wednesday, 13 November 2002	1
	Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #6	contains "Goloka: The Heroic Dose" (an 8-page story in which Tom Strong in 1927 takes a strong dose of Goloka and has a cosmic hallucination, with Alan Moore script and Jerry Ordway art), "The Garden of the Sklin" (a 9-page Jonni Future story in which Jonni Future has a lesbian fantasy featuring empty colored word balloons indicating mood, written by Steve Moore with Arthur Adams art), and "Young Tom Strong and the Shadow of the Volcano" (an 8-page story ocurring on 29 May 1914, written by Steve Moore with Alan Weiss art); cover-dated April 2003; published on Wednesday, 12 February 2003	1
	Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #7	contains "Blanket Shanty" (an 8-page story with Alan Moore script and Shawn McManus art), "The Empress of End" (an 8-page Jonni Future story in which Jermaal has a death fantasy of fucking Jonni, written by Steve Moore with Arthur Adams art), and "Young Tom Strong and the Dark Gods' Gambit" (an 8-page story written by Steve Moore with Alan Weiss art); Arthur Adams and Alan Weiss cover; cover-dated July 2003	1
	Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #8	contains "G-G-Ghosts at the Gear Stick!" (an 8-page story recollecting an episode of The Tom Strong Cartoon Hour -- in which the Strong family comedically battles Paul Saveen and his dog Scrappy -- with Alan Moore script and Jason Pearson art), "The Masque of the Moonjacker" (an 8-page Jonni Future story -- in which Jonni investigates the theft of Earth's moon by Endymion Sin, the Moonjacker, only to let him keep it and is seduced by him -- written by Steve Moore with Arthur Adams art), and "Young Tom Strong and the Memory Pit" (an 8-page story -- in which Young Tom Strong builds Pneuman -- written by Steve Moore with Alan Weiss pencils and Kevin Nowlan inks); Arthur Adams and Phil Noto cover; cover-dated December 2003	1
JONNI FUTURE
"The Halfway House," the 8-page Jonni Future short story (written by Steve Moore with art by Arthur Adams) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #1 occurs or was published here
"Moth-Women of the Myriad Moons," the 8-page Jonni Future short story (written by Steve Moore with art by Arthur Adams) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #2 occurs or was published here
"The Seraglio of the Stars," the 8-page Jonni Future short story (written by Steve Moore with art by Arthur Adams) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #3 occurs or was published here
"The Witch of the World's End!", the 9-page Jonni Future short story (written by Steve Moore with art by Arthur Adams) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #4 occurs or was published here
"The Garden of the Sklin," the 9-page Jonni Future short story (written by Steve Moore with art by Arthur Adams) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #6 occurs or was published here
"The Empress of End," the 8-page Jonni Future short story (written by Steve Moore with art by Arthur Adams) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #7 occurs or was published here
"The Masque of the Moonjacker," the 8-page Jonni Future short story (written by Steve Moore with art by Arthur Adams) from Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #8 occurs or was published here

America's Best Comics The Continuity Page for miscellaneous America's Best Comics publications, including specials relevant to League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Alan Moore The Continuity Page for Alan Moore's miscellaneous work, including all the links relevant to Alan Moore. Supreme The Continuity Page for Supreme, the first collaboration of Alan Moore and Chris Sprouse, and very much a forerunner to their work on Tom Strong.	America's Best Comics Chronology A table showing all America's Best Comics publications, organized by cover date and by family of characters.	Off-Site Please be aware that the continued quality, and even existence, of these sites cannot be guaranteed. PersianCaesar.com The website of author Julian Darius, creator of The Continuity Pages. Please support your site.